Victoria Ideal Home For New Space Agency

The Andrews Labor Government has launched a new campaign to make Victoria the home of the new Australian Space Agency – to grow Victoria’s thriving space industry, create jobs and boost the state’s economy.

Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll today joined Victorian Lead Scientist Dr Amanda Caples and Associate Professor Alan Duffy at Swinburne University of Technology to promote Victoria’s aerospace capabilities.

Victoria is the ideal home for the new agency and its advanced manufacturing and data science sectors, with more than one-in-five Australian space-related science and technology companies based here.

Victoria is also well positioned both commercially and geographically to be the physical centre and a focal point for coordinating national and international collaboration on space and attracting global investment.

Some of the world’s biggest names in aerospace – including Lockheed Martin, Thales, Boeing and BAE Systems – carryout aerospace research, development and manufacturing in Victoria.

Lockheed Martin established its first multi-disciplinary research facility outside the United States, STELarLab, in Melbourne and the Bureau of Meteorology – the biggest user of space technology in Australia – is based in Melbourne, as is the leading Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information.

Victoria’s research and development capabilities in this sector are world-class. Swinburne University has partnered with the California Institute of Technology, giving the institute unique access to the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

La Trobe University has a $20 million partnership with the German Space Agency to develop and design a super-sharp-image camera to fly on the International Space Station.

The global space industry is forecast to be worth more than $1 trillion by 2040, Victoria can help see Australia’s share of this market increase to tens of billions of dollars, potentially creating 20,000 jobs.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Industry and Employment Ben Carroll

“Global companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing have already seen Victoria’s economic and jobs growth potential in this industry.”

“Victoria has generations of manufacturing experience and major companies willing to invest. This makes us the perfect home for the Australian Space Agency.”

Quote attributable to Lead Scientist Dr Amanda Caples

“Victoria is at the forefront of research, engineering and advanced manufacturing in the areas of aerospace, satellite communications, cybersecurity and spatial information for both the civil and defence industries.”

“Victoria has a proud legacy of world-class advanced manufacturing, as well as the key universities and industry R&D collaborations in data science and AI to best use that data from space. Our state is ready to support the growth of the Australian space industry that operates on a global scale and beyond.”